Between competence and warmth: the remaining place of the physician in the era of artificial intelligence

Abstract

Competence and warmth are two essential dimensions of patient care. During the twentieth century, the industrial revolution in data collection, with the increasing use of machines and the division of labor that led to the development of many subspecialities, increased the overall competence of physicians at the expense of the warmth dimension. The spread of patient-centered care principles aimed to rebalance the two dimensions. In the twenty-first century, the industrial revolution in data processing with the emergence of algorithmic decision-making systems based on artificial intelligence is likely to disrupt further this balance. Competence will no longer be the prerogative of physicians, but a dimension to be shared between physicians and autonomous algorithmic decision-making systems, by contrast to warmth which should remain a human attribute. In this comment, we discuss the extent to which competence and warmth can remain the core dimensions of physician care in the era of artificial intelligence.